The Hanover Township Planning Commission last night continued to walk a tightrope in its effort to please both those planning to build the Lehigh Valley Corporate Center and those who would live near it.

Basically, Lehigh University and Rouse & Associates of Chester County would like flexible zoning regulations, while residents of the area would like to see certain restrictions.

Accommodating both groups will be the goal of the planning commission as it continues reviewing a draft of zoning regulations affecting the Lehigh- owned property and similarly zoned property in the township, said planners' Chairman Al Rusczyk.

"The planning commission must take those two opposite points of view and mesh them together," Rusczyk told a crowd of about 15 residents and representatives of Lehigh and Rouse & Associates. "I'm sure there'll be a middle ground. But both sides will have to give."

The Lehigh Valley Corporate Center calls for office and research buildings on a 108-acre tract at Schoenersville Road and Route 22. Residents in the area fear an increase in traffic, the disruption of the residential area, and other concerns.

The planners have been reviewing a draft of the zoning rules, but no timetable has been set for submitting them to the township supervisors. Rusczyk said the zoning would again be discussed at the planners' Feb. 4 meeting.

Input into last night's discussion was limited by the failure of the planners to muster a quorum. Attending were Planner Art Most and Rusczyk, who blamed the low turnout on the cold weather and the fact some commission members were out of town.

Rusczyk read a letter signed by 20-30 residents expressing their views on the proposal. He then read a letter from Rouse & Associates summarizing the restrictions in the draft aimed at protecting the residents.

Some of those restrictions had been discussed at an earlier planning commission meeting. They include prohibiting the storing or disposing of radioactive or hazardous waste on the site, which has been a major concern of the residents.

Last night's discussion focused on ways to distance or shield the residential area from the project. The measures include landscaping, buffers and setbacks, which are distances a building must be from another structure or a property line.

Some residents called for having residential buildings as a buffer between them and the office and research buildings. However, Leslie Reid Price of Rouse & Associates said residential units could not be built inside the park because they would be too close to non-residential buildings with parking areas. The narrow character of the land is a factor in placing residential areas near the office buildings, she said.

Rather than using residential units as a buffer, the plan calls forlandscaping and a 100-foot setback. Some residents were skeptical the measures would not be beneficial. One person said a buffer, which would act as a visual shield, would not work because his home is on ground higher than the park.

Price said "landscaping and architectural design" would make the buildings aesthetically pleasing. But Ed Levy of Kenwood Drive disagreed.

"What's pleasing to you is obnoxious to us," he said.

At one point, the project's benefit to the township was a matter of brief debate. Price said it would create employment and improve the tax base. Rick Passan of Kenwood Drive doubted that his taxes would drop as a result of the project.

Rusczyk commented the township in the future will face a tax burden because of the increase in municipal services that will be required by the Westupland planned residential development, construction of which has been in limbo.